Calgary, AB,
27
May
2020
|
15:30
America/Denver

Police investigate graffiti on Chinese Consulate

We are investigating graffiti sprayed last night on the wall of the Chinese Consulate-General building as a possible hate-motivated crime.

Three people dressed in black and wearing masks walked up to the building around 3:30 a.m., on Wednesday, May 27, 2020. They spray-painted vulgar phrases referencing COVID-19 along the north wall of the building and left.

It is the second time in just over a week that the building has been targeted, with another graffiti message being spray-painted on the sidewalk in front of the building on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. That message did not reference COVID-19.

“The pandemic has led to a lot of political debate and strong views, and people are obviously free to hold whatever view they wish,” said Craig Collins, Hate Crimes Coordinator with the Calgary Police Service. “But when people are targeting others for ill treatment or committing crimes because of those views, we have a duty to get involved.”

We are releasing CCTV photos of the suspects in the hopes that someone will have information that can help identify them.

There has been an increase in hate-motivated crimes around the world targeting the Chinese community and people of Asian descent. Calgary saw some incidents early in the pandemic, but we have only seen a slight increase in incidents targeting these groups overall so far.

“Generally, we have not seen the same spike in hate crimes that some other areas have seen,” adds Const. Collins. “But we are hearing from the Chinese community that they are concerned about growing hostility, so we are monitoring it closely.”

Anyone with information about this or other hate incidents is asked to contact us by calling 403-266-1234. Tips can also be submitted anonymously by contacting Crime Stoppers through any of the following methods:

TALK: 1-800-222-8477
TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org
APP: “P3 Tips” app

Hate-motived crimes are recognizable crimes, like assault, theft, vandalism or any other crime, where the offender was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate that is based on one of nine personal characteristics of the victim.

The possible hate motivation is considered by the courts after a person is found guilty of the crime. If the judge decides during sentencing that hate was a motivation, it is an aggravating factor that adds to the convicted person’s sentence.

Case #20208481/4771